Wong wrong to give up on Lower Lakes

Greens Senator for South Australia Sarah Hanson-Young has challenged Federal Minister for Water Penny Wong's claim that there is not enough water to save the River Murray's Lower Lakes.

"The water is there, but evidently the political will to fix this disastrous situation isn't," said Senator Hanson-Young.

The Greens say an emergency summit should be called to examine all the options available to Government to alleviate the Murray-Darling calamity, and that the Federal Government must publicly release water level data from across the Murray-Darling Basin.

 "We need the most up-to-date figures to know exactly what we're dealing with here," said Senator Hanson-Young.

"But from what we know now, from environmental experts like those at the Australian Conservation Foundation, there is water available in storages in both New South Wales and Victoria, including Menindee Lakes, to be released as urgently needed flows to keep the lakes alive.

"Seventy per cent of red gums along the Murray are dead or dying. Fish species in the Coorong are vanishing before our eyes. This is catastrophic stuff.

"It's time to put politics aside and give the river the drink it so desperately needs," concluded Senator Hanson-Young.

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